Bullbridge and Sawmills Area Civic Society

Stevenson's Dye Works

Meeting with Nigel Mills MP

25th June 2010, 2pm at the Lord Nelson, Bullbridge

BASA members met Nigel Mills MP to discuss how Nigel can help BASA's campaign for an imaginative redevelopment of the Stevenson's dye works site. You can read about the discussion here.

8th April 2010

Residents' concern over possible asbestos contamination

Click here to read the letter from Darren Hurst of AVBC received today, and see our CAMPAIGNS page for more information.

The Sustainable Communities Act (2007)

BASA wrote to Harriet Harman and Judy Mallaber in March asking them to support the new Sustainable Communities Ammendment Act so that it could become law before Parliament was disolved. You can read our email here. We heard from Judy Mallaber today, 4th May, that the Act was succesfully passed. You can read Judy's reply here.

If AVBC adopt this Act then local groups, such as BASA, have a right to have their views on local issues heard.

The future for Stevenson's?

6th March 2010

With JG Land & Estates no longer answering emails or returning phone calls, and John Jowitt
no longer employed by JGLE, residents are left with a derelict nine
hectares which used to employ a thousand local people, and a lot of
uncertainty. Redevelopment is certainly not moving fast but, under the
current economic climate, this should be no surprise.

Meanwhile, keep up with our reports on our Latest News page.

Nov 24th: Just a click will help to restore our canal

Patrick Morriss,
the Chair of the Friends of the Cromford Canal, is asking everyone to
sign the online petition asking British Waterways (ie the government)
not to sell off any more BW land. BW needs as much income as posible to
maintain and preserve our remaining canals.

Oct 29: Residents Concerns, Comments and Ideas re. the Development of the oldStevenson’s site

Existing Employment – Is there any provision for those still employed in the area (Mike's garage and Stevo's shop) to remain in employment ?

The Cromford Canal - Major concerns and much interest in reinstating the Canal in the long term and resisting any further building over or obliteration of those parts not already built over

Footpaths and Cycleways - Are these to be restored/maintained ?

Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site - Has consideration been given to links with the DVMWHS and the Economic Development Plan that suggests the possibility of a marina being built on/near the Transco site and its link to the Cromford Canal ?

Density of Development – Can the number of houses be reduced as the building does seem dense. The increased traffic is of concern to present residents.

Residents ask for some sort of traffic system that reduces the impact of the extra cars onto Bullbridge Hill and the emergence onto the A610.

Affordable Housing - will there be affordable housing included in the plan (possibly with housing association and subsequent letting opportunities)?

Community Centre - Several residents feel that the plans for this are "woolly" and not thought out, with inadequate parking facilities.

Contamination on Site – Many people are concerned re. the possible (likely) chemical contamination on the site. The Dyeworks have been there for many years, with dangerous dyes and mordants likely to be used in the early part of the twentieth century. Will these continue to affect the land on which the houses are to be built?

Flooding – Has enough thought been given to the flooding of the area after redevelopment, with the added risk of problems from sewerage, as at Riversdale? Riversdale residents, in particular, are concerned with the impact of sewerage and effluent on their properties.

A suggestion was made that the old stone (Stevenson's old factory shop ) building be used as a community centre instead of a new one being built.

Pensioners – Is there any provision made for the elderly residents of the area ?

Oct 28: The latest plan for the site

Hi All

It looks like we will be in consultation with JG Land again soon.

We will need to have an idea of the views of BASA members, so that the BASA Stevenson's interest group know that they are expressing the views of the Society.

As far as I can see JG Land are only likely to get help from the banks if they can put forward plans that are 'viable', which appears to mean Housing and not community facilities such as shops and community centres. It might be that we have to go with this as the bank holds the cards. However, we believe it may not be too late to have a say in the type of housing, and we need to assess if there is a need for accessible housing for elderly and disabled householders and affordable housing for first time buyers.

Many thanks to Juliette Blake for sending this information to us and for finding out that FOG (under the schedule) means 'flat over garage' (!)

So far the consultees that I know of are: Juliette, Parish Councillors, the Friends of Cromford Canal and ourselves . I will keep you informed of anyone else.

This is written in haste as we need to get started on our discussions. I will try to get a meeting together as soon as possible and hope that even if you can't attend you will send us your views.

If you know of interested persons who are not BASA members they can follow the campaign on this page.

Gill

Oct 16: Important news from the Stevenson's site developer

Councillor Juliette Blake tells us that John Jowitt, the developer behind the Stevensons dye works site development, has been given the green light to proceed with an application on this site - providing the scheme can be shown to be viable.

He's meeting officers on Thursday and will be looking to discuss how to do this. From their previous discussions, Mr Jowitt thinks this may result in them having to slim down the 'mix of uses'.